If tomorrow’s game actually is a 1’s vs 1’s, 2’s vs 2’s situation, the release of the rosters today may tell us more about how Jeremy Pruitt’s first team will look than the actual Orange & White Game itself:

With the Orange team representing the first team offense and second team defense and vice-versa with the White, we can create a rough draft post-spring depth chart. The Vols chose to include injured players like Jauan Jennings in the mix, so we will too:

QB Jarrett Guarantano RSo Keller Chryst RSr
RB Ty Chandler So Tim Jordan So
WR Marquez Callaway Jr Josh Palmer So
WR Jauan Jennings RJr Latrell Williams RSo
WR Brandon Johnson Jr Tyler Byrd Jr
TE Eli Wolf RSo Austin Pope RSo
OT Trey Smith So Marcus Tatum So
OG Riley Locklear So Greg Emerson Fr
C Ryan Johnson RSo Nathan Niehaus RSo
OG Jerome Carvin Fr Ollie Lane Fr
OT Drew Richmond RJr Chance Hall RJr
DE Jonathan Kongbo RSr Matthew Butler So
DT Shy Tuttle Sr Alexis Johnson RSr
DE Kyle Phillips Sr Deandre Johnson So
LB Daniel Bituli Jr Quart’e Sapp RJr
LB Darrin Kirkland RJr Austin Smith RJr
LB Darrell Taylor RJr Will Ignont So
CB Marquill Osborne Jr Alontae Taylor Fr
CB Shawn Shamburger So Carlin Fils-Aime Jr
NB Baylen Buchanan Jr Cheyenne Labruzza RFr
S Nigel Warrior Jr Todd Kelly Jr RSr
S Micah Abernathy Sr Theo Jackson So

A couple of notes and observations:

  • With Carlin Fils-Aime apparently sticking in the secondary, I’m assuming Tim Jordan being listed on the orange team behind Ty Chandler effectively makes him the current second option in the backfield.
  • With Jennings out, it looks like Josh Palmer will join Marquez Callaway and Brandon Johnson as the starters at receiver, which is essentially how the Vols line up most often last fall at that position.
  • There’s a whole bunch of guesswork on the offensive line, but these assumptions include Trey Smith back at tackle, as well as Chance Hall (though I listed him second team behind Drew Richmond for now). But even if that’s the case, the Vols are going to need something from someone young at guard right away.
  • The defensive line is the former recruiting stars capital of the team, where it’s easy to talk yourself into, “This coaching staff will finally get them to live up to their potential!” They might! But Kongbo, Tuttle, and Phillips will all graduate this year, so any progress on the defensive line will only be of the one-year variety in the starting lineup.
  • Tennessee needs more help at corner.

What am I interpreting incorrectly? What do you see here?

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Matt Daniel
Matt Daniel
6 years ago

I agree with alot of the Depth Chart.. However, on offense id have Drew Richmond playing Guard, since Marcus Tatum and Chance Hall are capable playing Right Tackle.. Also, i believe that the Juco TE came to Tennessee, because he was told he would start.. On Defense, i would have liked to have seen a 4 LB situation.. So u could see the 2 outside LBs, and 2 insidebackers. I believe theyd be Darrell Taylor, Daniel Bituli, Sapp, and Kirkland.. the first 2 being OLBs.. I believe Emerson will move back to DE in a 3-4, plus we have Emmitt… Read more »

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